


Meant to Be

by giantpanda



Series: What if... [16]
Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: Canon Rewrite, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:16:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28835472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giantpanda/pseuds/giantpanda
Summary: What if Claire hadn’t called Dash?
Relationships: Claire Browne/Neil Melendez
Series: What if... [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1799092
Comments: 167
Kudos: 72





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank everyone who continues to write for Claire and Neil, giving them the stories that they deserve. I hope you enjoy this story that explore what could have happened if Claire hadn't reached out to Dash, and she went for that drink with Neil (based on that deleted scene).

He had excused himself after talking with Claire in the locker room, telling her that he had left something in his office. The conversation with her had left him feeling unsettled. He did what he thought a friend would do, but he couldn’t deny that it hurt to tell her to give Dash a chance. He wasn’t sure when his feelings from her had changed from friendship to something more, when she had become the person he looked forward to seeing most. He finally had to stop denying his feelings when he had seen her smile when she hugged Dash, wishing he could be the one to bring her that happiness.

He walked into his office and sat down in his chair. He needed a few minutes to get himself together. The one thing he was sure of was that she deserved all the happiness in the world. If he couldn’t be the one to give it to her, then he would make sure to support her in finding it. He had always thought that she was the strongest resident, but it wasn’t until they started spending time together outside of work that he realized just how incredible she was. 

With the favoritism complaint lingering over them, he had tried to step back. Maybe the fact that he couldn’t, should have been a clue that he had fallen deeper than he realized. If he ignored that fact that he was her boss, he knew that they could good together. He could picture with her the future that he had always dreamed of. But he knew it wouldn’t happen. He would rather stay by her side as her friend then lose having her in his life. Pushing her towards Dash would be difficult, but it was the right thing to do. He hoped if he repeated that enough times, he might begin to believe it.

Feeling the weight of the day pressing down on him, he headed out. Claire had been right that going home to an empty house sucked. He pushed away thoughts of having her waiting there for him. Thinking about what he couldn’t have would just make him feel worse.

He thought about going to get a drink somewhere to distract himself from these different emotions. As he walked out of the hospital, he bumped into Claire. He knew he should just tell her goodnight, but something stopped him. As they stood facing each other, the wind blowing her hair in her face, he didn’t want to be anywhere but with her. Despite Dash coming to visit, they had a successful day with their surgery.

“You want to grab a celebratory coffee, or we can go crazy and have a real drink?” he asked.

He hoped that he wasn’t overstepping the boundaries of their friendship. He realized that his question could be construed as asking her out on a date. Her silence made him nervous, and he wondered what she was thinking. Finally, she smiled at him.

“I think a day like today deserves a drink.”

They decided to go to a nearby bar. He thought of suggesting somewhere further away, but that made it seem as if they had something to hide. They went to their cars to meet at the bar. He had spent time with her many times, but for some reason this time felt different. As he parked and got out of the car, he reminded himself that this was just like every other time they had spent outside of work. He waited for her to get out of her car before they walked in together.

They headed to an empty spot at the bar. He rolled his eyes as the bartender starting flirting with her as she ordered her drink. He didn’t even think that she realized the affect that she had on others and the way her smile lit up the room. Pushing those thoughts away, he ordered his drink.

He couldn’t help but make a face at the bright blue drink that was placed in front of her.

“What is that?” he asked, as his whiskey was placed in front of him.

“Blue Hawaii,” she answered, pulling the cherry off the top and popping it into her mouth. “Want to try it?” she asked, holding the drink towards him.

Reluctantly he took the glass from her. “I’ll try it if you try mine.”

She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “I already know I don’t like it.” He went to hand her the glass back and she rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she said, reaching for his glass. She took a small sip and made a face. “Happy now.”

He took a small sip of her drink, surprised that it didn’t taste as bad as it looked. “Not horrible,” he said. They switched their glasses back. “I’ll stick with this.”

She made a face again, “I don’t know how you drink that.”

“Like this,” he said, taking a sip as he tried not to laugh.

She rolled her eyes, hiding her smile as she took a sip of her drink. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Is that your favorite drink?” he asked. They had gone out together a few times and gotten drinks, but he didn’t remember it being that shade of blue.

She shrugged. “Kayla would always order it when we went out. Thought it would be a nice way to honor her.”

He sighed. He had forgotten for a moment about Dash coming to see her.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded. “Seeing Dash just made me miss her more.”

“I’m sorry.” He took another drink to prepare himself for what he wanted to ask her next. “Are you going to call him?”

“Eventually.”

“What are you going to tell him?”

“Why is it so important to you that I reach out to Dash?”

He couldn’t tell what she was thinking, which he realized was unusual. He had gotten good at reading her since they had gotten closer. He took another drink to stall for a moment.

“I just want you to be happy,” he finally answered. “You deserve to be happy.”

She gave him one of her breathtaking smiles that lit up her whole face and somehow made her even more beautiful. 

“I think I am happy,” she said sounding a little surprised. “It’s been such a rough few months, and because of you it’s been better.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You saved me. I was drowning and you were there to pull me out.”

“I was just at the right place at the right time, that was all you.”

She placed her hand against his arm. “Neil, knowing that you were there for me, knowing that I could turn to you, it helped. I can’t tell you enough how much your friendship means to me.”

“It means a lot to me too.”

She shook her head. “If only we didn’t…” 

She was cut off as someone bumped into her as they walked by. He reached out to steady her, his hand coming to her waist as she reached out and placed her hand on his leg. He had been close to her before in the OR, but this was different. She looked up at him, and he found his eyes drifting to her lips. She pushed against him to sit herself back up correctly on the stool.

Smiling, she said, “See, always saving me.” Her hand lingered for a second against his leg before she reached for her drink.

“Didn’t really give me much choice that time,” he teased her. He glanced around and wondered when the bar had gotten so crowded. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said. “Thank you.”

He finished his drink. “What were you about to say?”

She hesitated a second, before shaking her head. “It’s not important.” She finished the rest of her drink. Before he could ask her if she wanted another, she said, “I believe your offer was for either drinks or coffee, want to do both?”

“Okay,” he said, pulling out his credit card to pay. He noticed she was reaching for hers and he reached out to stop her. “I got this, you can get the coffee.”

She smiled. “Sounds good.”

After he paid for their drinks, they left the bar and headed across the street to a small coffee shop. He held the door for her, and they walked in.

“Go sit down, I’ll get the drinks,” she told him.

“I can order my own drink.”

She stepped closer to him. “If you go up to the counter, you’re going to try to pay even though you already said I could. Go sit down.”

He shook his head as he followed her direction. She was right that he would try to pay. She was always so adamant that they share the cost of things, that he enjoyed her reaction when he was able to trick her and do something special for her.

He watched her up at the counter. He wondered again what she had been about to say in the bar. He worried that he was pushing things between them, things that would make work difficult. He didn’t have any doubts that he would be able to continue working with her, he knew they both would be able to remain professional, but the others at the hospital might not see it the same way. As watched her come towards him, he wondered if maybe it would be worth the risk.

She sat his coffee down in font of him and took a seat beside him. As he took a sip, he knew he shouldn’t have been surprised that she knew how he liked his coffee.

“Thank you,” he said.

“You’re welcome.” She closed her eyes as she took a drink of hers. “It’s so much quieter here.”

“It’s nice,” he agreed.

They sat together enjoying each other’s company as they drank their coffee. Every once in a while, he would catch her looking at him.

“What?” he finally asked.

She sighed. “Back at the bar, I was going to ask you something.”

She started fiddling with the top of her cup, and he could tell that she was nervous. He reached out and placed his hand over hers.

“You know you can ask me anything.”

She hesitated before asking, “Do you think things would be different if you weren’t my boss?”

“What are you asking?”

He was afraid to get his hopes up. He had told himself repeatedly that things between them could never change. But if it was something she wanted too, he would absolutely figure out a way to make it work.

“I know I told you that we were just friends, but I don’t think that’s true anymore. Am I wrong?”

“No,” he said softly.

She smiled at him. “I didn’t call Dash because I already have someone who makes me happy.”

“Claire,” he said, as he reached out to caress her face. He didn’t know what to say to her. She made him happy, and if he was honest with himself, he was falling in love with her. “You make me happy too.”

He wasn’t sure which of them moved first, but they moved towards each other as they gently kissed. He knew this wouldn’t solve any of the issues a relationship between them would cause, but as she deepened the kiss, he couldn’t bring himself to care.


	2. Chapter 2

As Claire sat on Dr. Malkin’s couch, she took a few deep breaths. Her thoughts and emotions were all over the place, and she had needed someone to talk to. Normally when she felt this unsettled, she would turn to Neil, but since he was the cause she couldn’t talk to him yet. He had kissed her last night, or maybe she had kissed him, she wasn’t sure who had made the first move. One second, she had admitted to him why she hadn’t called Dash, and the next they were kissing. She didn’t regret it, but she worried about what it meant for them both professionally and personally. 

“Are you ready to share why you’re here so early this morning?” she asked.

“Neil and I kissed last night,” Claire answered. She had shared in the past how her feelings had been growing and changing about him. Dr. Malkin knew all her worries and concerns about that, and her biggest fear of losing him.

If Dr. Malkin was surprised she didn’t show it. “How do you feel about that?” she asked.

With a sigh, she answered, “If I knew I wouldn’t be here before my shift.”

“Okay.”

She waited a moment to see if she would say anything else or ask any questions. It seemed Dr. Malkin was going to make her share.

“Dash came to see me yesterday and asked me to go on a date,” she started. She didn’t need to explain about Dash because Dr. Malkin knew all about him and Kayla. “Neil saw me after and seemed to be pushing me to call him. He told me I deserve to me happy.”

“He’s right.”

“Sitting on that bench with Neil, I realized that I was already happy with him, but I didn’t know what to do with that. I thought of doing what he suggested, but I didn’t want to.” She leaned back on the couch. “I bumped into Neil again on our way out of the hospital, and he asked if I wanted to get coffee or drinks.”

“Was it a date?”

“I don’t think so. We’ve been out before. I told him drinks would be good and we went to the bar.” She didn’t feel the need to tell her about how it felt when he had steadied her after someone almost knocked her over. “The bar got crowded and we went to get coffee.”

“His idea or yours?”

“Mine,” she answered. “I didn’t want the night to end.”

“What happened?”

“I told him I didn’t call Dash because I was happy when I was with him, and then we kissed.”

“Did you talk about it?”

“No,” she sighed. “We sat there for a while kissing until the owner told us it was time for her to close. I thought of inviting him to come home with me, but I don’t want to ruin anything with him.”

“Do you think that would?”

“I don’t trust myself not to hurt him.”

“Do you trust him?”

“Absolutely.” She took a moment to compose her thoughts. “He’s not the one that I’m worried about. With my history with men, I don’t want to do that with him.”

“You’ve shared that with him before, correct?”

She nodded. He never judged her when she shared her past with him. 

“You need to talk to him about this. The two of you need to decide what you want to do, you can’t make this decision on your own,” Dr. Malkin said. “It’s okay to be scared and worried. Those are normal feelings when you are about to take a risk.”

She looked down at her hands. “What if we try something, and he realizes he doesn’t want me?”

“Why do you think that?”

“I’m a mess,” she said. “The first thing I did after he walked me to my car was to text you to see if you were available this morning.”

“That doesn’t make you a mess. Everyone needs some help and guidance once in a while.”

“He’s my best friend,” she said softly. “What if I lose that?”

“And what if gain something more?” Dr. Malkin looked at her. “Claire, I know things are complicated with your work relationship with him, but I’ve heard you talk about him for weeks. You need to be sharing this with him. Talk to him.”

“I will,” she sighed. “It might not even matter with him still being my boss.”

Dr. Malkin smiled. “If you both decide that this is something you want, I’m sure you will find a way around that. Talk to him first before you drive yourself crazy.”

“Thank you.” Claire stood. “I really appreciate you seeing me so early.”

“You’re welcome,” Dr. Malkin said. “I’m proud of you for reaching out.”

As Claire walked out of her office, she checked her phone to make sure she hadn’t missed anything important while she was in there. Seeing a text from Neil, she opened it up.

“Good morning. I had a great time last night,” it read, “I can’t wait to see you.”

Some of her nerves settled as she smiled at his words. Texting back, she said, “Me too. Looking forward to seeing you too.”

“Honey,” a woman sitting on the chair waiting for her appointment called.

Claire looked over at her startled. “Yes?”

“You need to hold onto whoever put that smile on your face.”

“I hope to.”

She was lost in her thoughts as she drove to the hospital for her shift. She knew that she needed to talk things through with Neil. Dr. Malkin was right that this needed to be something they decided together. She was terrified. She worried that he wouldn’t want to take the risk because of work. She briefly wondered if all he was interested in was a friends with benefits situation, but she quickly discarded that idea. She knew him well enough to know that would never be what he wanted. She knew he would want them either to remain friends or have a relationship. She thought of the way it felt to kiss him, and it had been better than she could have imagined. Yet she still had so many questions. Would he want to risk their reputations at the hospital? Would it want to tell everyone they were together or keep it to themselves? What if they decided to try and it didn’t work? That was the part that worried her the most. She didn’t want to lose him.

She swore softly when she noticed the time and hurried to park and put her things away before rushing to the lounge. Checking the time again, she knew she had just a few minutes to get there on time. As she pushed through the door, she noticed that all the others were already sitting there. She felt Neil’s eyes on her as she sat down.

“Nice of you to join us,” he said.

She fought back a smile. At least she didn’t have to worry about him treating her differently after kissing her last night.

Glancing down at her watch, she said, “I’m two minutes early.”

“Everyone else is already here, that means you’re late.”

She rolled her eyes as she settled in to listen to their assignments for the day. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to work with Neil today or not. She knew they would need to have a conversation, but it couldn’t happen at work anyway. Morgan and Alex were assigned to work with Dr. Lim, and Shaun was working with Dr. Andrews. She wondered if Neil wanted it that way, or if the assignments had been decided by Dr. Lim.

She waited quietly as the others trickled out. He took the seat beside her and handed her the tablet.

“Mr. Jefferson was brought in last night. They did some scans and we have the ones from when he was in a different hospital a few weeks ago.”

She started to look through the scans.

“Everything okay?” he asked softly. “You’re not usually late.”

“I wasn’t late,” she argued. “Everyone else was just early.” 

“Too much excitement last night?” he asked. She looked at him and saw the amusement in his eyes, but underneath that she also saw his concern. 

“Last night was wonderful,” she said, not wanting him to worry. She wanted to talk to him about her conversation with Dr. Malkin, but as she glanced back at the scans, she noticed a shadow. Pointing to it she handed the tablet back to him, “Did you see this?”

He looked down at it, “I’m not sure it’s something.”

She took the tablet back from him and scrolled to find the scans from his previous hospital visit. She noticed that the shadow was darker in the scans that had been done last night.

“Look,” she said, pointing out the difference. “I can’t tell what it is, but it’s something.”

“We need to get a closer look. Rerun the scans.”

She shook her head. “I think we should think about surgery.”

He looked surprised. “We don’t even know what’s wrong. I don’t think we should be cutting into him without more information.”

She flipped through the two scans again. “Look at the difference in,” she looked down to check the date. “In just two weeks. I think we need to be a little more aggressive.”

“And how do we justify it?”

She pointed to the scans. “Something is wrong. He’s still in pain, whatever his doctors did last time didn’t help.”

“Or he didn’t follow their directions. We need more information.”

“I think you’re wrong.”

“Do the scans again.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll go show these to Audrey and see what she thinks.”

“Thank you.”

“Still think you’re wrong.”

“That’s your mistake,” she said with a smile as she got up to go redo the tests.

She always enjoyed debating ideas with him, and she was glad to see that hadn’t changed with the events of the previous night. Even if he didn’t see what she did, it still settled something in her to see that maybe they could move forward without it changing anything. He had called her out for being late, not that she was, and didn’t agree with her just because it was her idea.

“Good morning,” she said as she entered Mr. Jefferson’s room. “I’m Dr. Browne. How are you feeling?”

“I’m in a hospital, how do you think?”

“Any change in your level of pain?” she asked, as she came closer to check his vitals.

“About the same,” he sighed. “How are you going to fix it?”

“We’re still working on figuring out what the next steps should be. We are going to redo the scans you did last night to see what we can find.”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s always another test, nothing that actually fixes the pain.”

“We just want to make sure we have all the right information so we can fix it.”

“At least you’re prettier than the one from last night.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Neil said coming into the room. “I’m Dr. Melendez and there has been a change of plans.” Claire wondered if he had heard the patient’s comment before he came in. “We are going to do surgery.”

She looked at him, wondering what changed his mind. She wanted to ask, but knew she needed to wait until they were away from the patient.

Mr. Jefferson looked between the two of them, his gaze settling on her. “Well I certainly won’t mind you having your hands on me, sweetheart.”

She saw the annoyance clear on Neil’s face as he turned to her, “Dr. Browne, go get things ready and I’ll explain the procedure to Mr. Jefferson.”

She left the room and went to the lounge to pull up the surgical plan and to see about getting everything together. They were lucky that there was an open OR, and thing came together quickly. As she was scrubbing in, Neil came in.

“Before you say anything,” he said as he stood beside her. “I know you could have handled him.”

She smiled. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”

“Really?” he asked in disbelief. “We’re going through with your idea, and I kicked you out of the room.”

“You didn’t kick me out,” she said. “You trusted me to get things ready.” Since they were alone, she continued, “I know why you wanted me out of the room.”

“Do you?”

“It wouldn’t be good for you to fight with our patient before surgery.”

“You’re okay with him calling you sweetheart?”

“Of course not, unfortunately not the worse I’ve been called.”

“One day you’re going to tell me all about it.” They finished scrubbing in. “Now, we’re going to see if you and Dr. Lim were correct.”

Surgery went smoothly and she resisted the urge to tell Neil that she had been right. They repaired the small leak in his valve. Once they were finished, Neil told her to check on their other patients while he told Mr. Jefferson about the success of the surgery.

After completing her check up on their patients, she went to the lounge to look over some of the test results. She looked up as Neil came in. He took a seat across from her and kept looking at her.

“What?” she asked.

“Just waiting for you to tell me you told me so.”

She shrugged. “You already know I was right, I won’t rub it in this time.”

“This time? Planning on being right more often?”

“I’m always right,” she laughed. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t trust you.”

She looked down at the results in her hand, before looking back at him. “If you had been working with Shaun today and he was the one who noticed that shadow, would you have done anything differently?”

“No,” he answered honestly. “I didn’t think he needed surgery without more information.”

“Despite the fact that you were wrong,” she said as he rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to apologize. We’re allowed to disagree.” She took a deep breath. “I don’t want any special treatment from you.”

“I’m not giving you any. I’ve worked with you a long time and I trust you. I shouldn’t have dismissed your idea so quickly.”

She tilted her head and examined him. “Would you apologize to Shaun?”

He thought for a moment. “Probably not,” he said softly. “But that doesn’t mean I’m treating you differently.”

“I do appreciate it,” she said, “But it is unnecessary.” She smiled. “Because if I’d been wrong, I would not have been apologizing to you.”

He laughed, “I know you wouldn’t.”

She thought about their interactions throughout the day and overall, she felt confident that they would be able to figure this out. She knew there would be some issues, he was still her boss, but as she looked at him, she knew she wanted to talk to him about what they were going to do.

“What are you doing tonight?” she asked.

“I don’t have any plans.”

“Would you like to come over for dinner? Give us a chance to talk.”

He nodded. “I’d like that.”

As she glanced at the time, she hoped that the shift went by quickly. She was nervous and excited to see what would happen at dinner.


	3. Chapter 3

As Neil pulled up at Claire’s he was nervous and unsure what to expect. He had hoped to get a chance to talk to her before everyone else arrived on shift, but she was later than usual. She hadn’t given any indication at work about how she was feeling, although there was no awkwardness working with her. As always, she showed him her brilliance in pushing for the surgery, and in pointing out that his apology was unnecessary. He had been surprised that she wasn’t annoyed with him for sending her to prepare of the surgery or that he planned to do the follow ups afterwards. He was glad that she realized that he wanted to keep her out of a situation that might make her uncomfortable. The rest of their shift had been uneventful and felt like normal, even if all he could think about was kissing her again.

He had thought about what would happen now that they had both revealed a little of what they were feeling towards each other. He hoped that Claire would want to take the risk with him to see what would happen. He had decided that he was going to follow her lead in what to do next. The challenges with him being her boss wouldn’t just disappear, but he felt that their working relationship would be fine. They maintained their professionalism all day and he had faith that would continue. Others might disagree. 

He knocked on the door, taking a few deep breaths to settle his nerves. He couldn’t help but smile as Claire opened the door and he could tell she was as nervous as he was. She motioned for him to come in. As he walked by her, he thought about kissing her, but decided that he needed to wait until after they talked. Unless of course, she kissed him first.

After leaving his shoes by the door, he followed her into her kitchen. He looked around as he walked by, taking note of the pictures and knickknacks she had. He hoped that he would get a chance to explore them more and learn more about what each piece meant to her.

“Help yourself,” she said, pointing to the Chinese food containers she had on the counter. “Beer or wine?”

“Beer please,” he answered, watching as she took out two bottles. She placed them on the table and then joined him to fill her plate. He wasn’t sure if she was doing it on purpose, but she kept bumping into him as she reached over for food.

As they settled at the table, he allowed himself for a moment to think about getting to do this every night with her after work. Of waking up beside her every morning. Of spending the rest of his life with her by his side. He hoped she was thinking the same.

Taking a drink, she broke the silence, “You kissed me last night.”

He hadn’t expected her to jump right into what they needed to talk about.

“You’re wrong,” he said, taking a bite, “You kissed me.”

They smiled at each other remembering the night before.

“Was that a one-time thing?”

“Do you want it to be?”

She rolled her eyes, “I asked you first.”

“I wouldn’t mind it happening again,” he answered honestly. “What about you?”

“I wouldn’t say no.” She took another bite of food, and he felt like she wanted to tell him more. “I saw Dr. Malkin this morning.”

“That’s why you were late.”

“Stop saying that, I wasn’t late.”

He grinned as he took a drink. “You were the last one there. I can’t give you any special treatment.”

“I better be the only one you’ve been kissing,” she said, her amusement shining in her eyes.

“Of course,” he shook his head at her teasing. “How did it go at the doctor?”

He wondered why she had reached out to her therapist. He knew she rarely scheduled early morning sessions because she hated to get up earlier than she had to. 

“It was fine,” she sighed. “She just told me I needed to talk to you about what I was feeling.”

“And how are you feeling?” he asked, knowing that everything could change with her answer.

Ignoring him, she continued, “There was this lady in the waiting area as I was leaving who noticed when I got a text message. She told me that I needed to hold onto whoever sent it to me because she could tell it made me happy.”

Unable to resist, he asked, “Who was texting you? I need to know who my competition is.”

She laughed as she rolled her eyes at him. He enjoyed getting that reaction from her.

“You know it was you.” She moved her plate out of her way before taking another drink. “Our friendship means a lot to me,” she started, “But I’d be lying to you if I didn’t tell you that my feelings are not platonic anymore.”

He reached across the table for her hand. “It’s not just you. I was really happy that you didn’t call Dash yesterday to go out with him.”

“Why did you try to encourage me to?”

“I just want you to be happy, even if it is with someone else.”

“And if you’re the one who makes me happy?”

“Even better.”

She intertwined their fingers together. “You’re still my boss.”

He sighed. “I know a relationship would be challenging, especially for you. I don’t want to be the cause of anyone questioning your talents or abilities. You’re too special for that.” He saw the concern in her eyes, and wondered what she was thinking. “I think that the others know you have gotten to this point all on your own. Anyone who doubts you, doesn’t know you.” He squeezed her hand. “It might be hard, but I think it’s worth it. I think we’d be good together.”

He hadn’t meant to admit that to her, what he truly wanted. He had wanted to let her guide their conversation and see what she wanted, but seeing the worry on her face, made him want to make sure she realized the extent of his feelings for her.

“I think so too,” she said softly. “It does scare me.”

“What does?”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” she said, moving her hand from his.

“I don’t think you will.”

“You don’t know that.”

“And you don’t know that you will.” He reached for his drink, taking a moment to think about what he could say to ease her fears. “I trust you,” he said softly. “I know it’s not always going to be easy, and I know we can both be stubborn at times.”

“You more than me,” she said smiling. 

“If you say so.” He could argue that point with her, but it wasn’t important. “You have to admit that this has been building between us for a while, and you have never been anything but honest with me.” He thought about what she had told him about her past. “I understand why you’re worried and I’m not trying to ignore your concerns, but I think we can move past them together. You just have to keep being honest with me.”

“Kayla always told me that I ran away from happiness. She wasn’t wrong.” She sighed. “I don’t want to do that anymore, I want to be happy with you, I am happy with you.” She stood up to start collecting their plates and bottles. “Does this mean we’re dating now?”

He watched as she dumped everything in the sink. “I think we already were,” he said, walking over to the sink to clean off the dishes.

“Leave them,” she said, “I’ll get them later.”

“Or I’ll do them now and you won’t have to worry about it.”

She crossed her arms across her chest. “Does it bother you?”

He started to clean the dishes. “A little.”

She shook her head, “What have I gotten myself into?”

He turned to look at her, seeing the affection in her eyes he relaxed. “Something that’s going to be good for both of us.”

He finished cleaning everything as she put the leftovers away. Once everything was cleaned up, they went to setting on the couch. Claire sat close to him, but not touching. He could tell there was more she wanted to talk about.

“What’s wrong?”

She sighed. “I was just thinking, I still have to call Dash, and tell him I’m seeing someone else. Would it bother you that I stay friends with him?”

“Does it bother you that I’m still friends with Audrey?”

“No.” She moved closer to him and took his hand. “This relationship thing is new to me, I don’t want to mess it up.”

“Unless you plan on dating Dash, we’re good.”

She made a face. “Dash will always be Kayla’s husband. She meant well but even if I didn’t have feelings for you, that would never have worked.”

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders bringing her closer. He smiled as she rested her head against his shoulder.

“What about work?” she asked softly.

He sighed. He knew this was another important conversation that they needed to have. After having two failed relationships at the hospital, he was not looking forward to going to HR to declare a third. While he had no doubts that Claire was who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, he wasn’t ready to deal with the invasive questions and gossip that would follow.

“What do you want to do?” he asked.

She sat up so she could look at him. “I’m not saying this because I think what we’re doing is wrong or that I’m embarrassed to be in a relationship with my boss.”

“Okay.”

“I think we should keep it between us,” she said, “Just for a few weeks. I think that would give us a chance to really work on this without dealing with all the craziness at work. And we can show them that we can still work together.”

“I was thinking that too,” he admitted. “Some time for it to just adjust to being together before the whole hospital has a say.”

She seemed relieved that he agreed with her. “So, nothing changes at work,” she said moving to straddle his lap. “But when we’re not at work,” she kissed him. “We can do this.”

“Sounds good to me.”

He was glad that they were going to take the time to build a solid foundation before those in the hospital questioned their relationship. He couldn’t wait to explore this new relationship with her, but for now, all he could focus on was how it felt to finally have her in his arms.


	4. Chapter 4

In the month since she and Neil had decided that they wanted a relationship that was more than just friendship, Claire had expected some difficulties. However, it had been surprisingly easy to move from being friends to being together. She no longer had to hide the fact that she cared about him. They spent most of their time outside the hospital together, either at her place or his. They continued to build their relationship without the prying eyes of those at the hospital. While this limited their options for going out, they didn’t mind staying in together.

A few days after they shared their feelings for each other, she had reached out to Dash. They had lunch together and she had explained about her relationship with Neil, telling him that it was very new and that they were keeping quiet because he was her boss. He didn’t seem surprised and told her that Kayla thought there was something between them when he took care of her. He was happy for her and wanted to make sure that they maintained their friendship. He also told her that he was relieved because he had only wanted to honor Kayla’s wishes, and as much as he cared about Claire, he didn’t think they would have been good together. They spent the rest of their time together reminiscing about Kayla.

Neil had come over after she had met with Dash. He had held her while she cried over the loss of her friend. She wanted him to know how Kayla would have been happy for them. She opened a bottle of wine and had shared some photos and memories of Kayla. She had fallen even more in love with him that night, not that she had told him yet.

At first, she had worried that someone would notice something different between them, but at work nothing changed. After a few days, she stopped worrying about anyone noticing. He continued to treat her the same as before they changed their relationship. The only difference was that they occasionally sent each other flirty text messages. Although, he was more guilty of it than she was. She hated to think how he would act if they weren’t keeping their relationship private. He made up for maintaining their professionalism as soon as they were away from the hospital.

Since no one at the hospital knew about the relationship, they were able to keep working together. She enjoyed working with all the attendings, but she felt she learned the most from Neil. Today she was working with Neil and Shaun, and they were working on determining a surgical plan for their patient. Even though he was sitting beside her, Neil kept texting her ideas for plans for the evening. With Shaun across from her, she tried to ignore his messages, and knew Neil was only sending them to drive her crazy. As her phone vibrated with another message, she rolled her eyes.

“Is something wrong?” Shaun asked. “Your phone keeps going off.”

“Nothing important,” she said, glancing at Neil. “I can answer later.” 

“It’s annoying.”

“Sorry Shaun,” she said. Before silencing her phone, she quickly sent Neil a message telling him that if he wanted a chance to see what she had on under her scrubs, he needed to stop texting her. She noticed he slipped his phone back in his pocket and reached for his coffee.

She sighed as she continued to look at the scans in front of her. They were struggling to find the best course of action for their patient, and had been going over different ideas for a while.

“Claire, are you having sex?” Shaun asked suddenly.

Neil started coughing as he choked on his coffee. She wanted to ask him if he was okay, but also didn’t want to look at him after hearing that question.

“Shaun! That’s none of your business.”

Neil stood up, still coughing, “I’m going to get some water,” he said, leaving her alone with Shaun.

“You seem happy,” Shaun said. “Having sex with Carly makes me happy.” He looked around. “Dr. Melendez seems happier too. Are you having sex with him?”

She took a deep breath. She shouldn’t be surprised that Shaun would pick up on the changes in their relationship, she just hadn’t expected him to realize the extent of it.

“This isn’t an appropriate conversation for work.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” he said, “I like that you’re happy. And it is better for all of us if Dr. Melendez is too.”

“I like that you’re happy too,” she sighed. “Things are still good with Carly?”

“I think so,” he answered. “We are going to have dinner together.”

“That sounds nice.”

His phone beeped. “His updated lab work is ready. I can go pick it up.”

“You just want to see Carly,” she said smiling.

“Yes. Just like you want to see Dr. Melendez.” 

He stood up and left the lounge. A few minutes later, Neil walked back in.

“Is it safe?” he asked.

“He’ll be gone for a while,” she said, “The lab work is ready, so he’ll spend some time talking with Carly.” He sat back down. “You okay?”

“Can’t say I was expecting him to ask you that.” Smiling, he leaned back in his seat. “I do like that he noticed you’re happy.” 

“Apparently, you’re happier too,” she said smiling back at him. “He asked if we were sleeping together.”

“What did you say?”

“I don’t him it wasn’t appropriate to talk about at work and he said he wouldn’t tell anyone.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. He spends a lot of time with Aaron.” He sighed. “Do you think we should talk to him first?”

“Shaun won’t say anything.”

“How do you know?”

“He never told anyone about you and Dr. Lim kissing in your car on the way to work.”

“Obviously he told someone if you know.”

“I don’t count,” she said. “He knows he can trust me.” She reached for her coffee and took a sip while thinking. “Maybe we should start working on a plan for when we want to talk to Dr. Glassman and the others.”

He nodded. “I think so too, and not because I don’t trust Shaun.”

“He was right,” she said softly. “I am happy, and I don’t want to hide that I am happy because of you. It’s easier if we don’t tell anyone, but that makes it feel like we’re doing something wrong. And we’re not.”

“We can talk about it tonight.” He leaned closer to her. “Does this mean I’ll soon get to kiss you at work?”

“Never,” she laughed. “You still have to behave.”

“I’ll convince you otherwise.”

“No, you won’t,” she smiled, even though she knew she would never give in, she looked forward to seeing him try.

“We’ll talk later.” He gestured towards the scans, “Any ideas?”

“Not yet.”

“Let’s keep working.”

They settled in to figure out their surgical plan. She pushed aside any thoughts of telling the others so that she could focus on their patient. As always, she looked forward to their night together and creating a plan for their next steps.


	5. Chapter 5

_As Neil woke up, he looked at Claire laying beside him. After realizing that Shaun knew about their relationship, they had discussed their plan over dinner. He was off today while she had to work, and they both had the weekend off. They had decided that on Monday they would talk to Aaron first and see what the next steps would be. He knew she was nervous and if he was honest, he was too. Not because he had any doubts about their relationship, but because he worried about how the other’s reactions would affect her. They would have the weekend to themselves before dealing with everyone else._

_He enjoyed the bubble that they had created for themselves. The transition from friends to something more had been much easier than he anticipated. It probably helped that they had already started a relationship even if they both denied it. She continued to amaze him at work, pushing him to be a better doctor. And while he enjoyed working beside her, his favorite moments were when they were home alone. They rarely spent the night apart from each other, alternating between whose home they would stay at. Lately, they had been spending more time at his because Claire had a neighbor whose toddler had frequent temper tantrums at night keeping them both awake. It didn’t matter to him where they stayed, as long as they were together._

_She stirred beside him and he ran his hand against her bare back, causing her to cuddle closer to him. They were still exploring the physical part of their relationship, and he enjoyed every moment of it._

_“Why are you up already?” she mumbled._

_He laughed. He had learned quickly that she was not a morning person, and it amused him to see how cranky she could be first thing in the morning. It impressed him how she was able to hide this side of herself at the hospital. He was sure if he asked anyone there, they wouldn’t believe him that she wasn’t pleasant first thing in the morning. He loved that he got to know that about her._

_“Maybe I just wanted to spend more time with you.”_

_“Ugh,” she said, making a face. “It’s too early for your sappiness.”_

_He smiled at her, he was determined to get her to admit that she didn’t mind romance as much as she said she did._

_“I was thinking,” he said, running his fingers down her arm. “Maybe you could call out of work today.”_

_She moved away slightly, propping herself up on her arm. “And why would I do that?”_

_“To come with me to the brewery,” he answered._

_He knew she wouldn’t agree to it, but he would love to have her there with him. One good thing about sharing their relationship meant that they would no longer have to stay at home. He looked forward to being able to take her out to dinner or to the movies._

_“Won’t Dr. Glassman be there?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“I think we should stick to our plan for Monday.” She leaned forward to kiss him. “But I have a better idea.”_

_“What’s that?”_

_“I stay home from work and you skip the fundraiser.”_

_“And what would we do together?”_

_“Watch a movie,” she said smiling. “What did you think?”_

_He pulled her closer to him, “Let me show you,” he said as he captured her lips with his._

His head and side were throbbing. He glanced around at the damage in the hallway from the earthquake. He needed to call Claire. He regretted now that they hadn’t followed through with their teasing plans to both stay home. He hoped she was okay at the hospital, and grateful that she hadn’t been here by his side. He reached for his phone to call her just as it started ringing. Hoping to see her name, he saw Audrey’s instead. As she shared that they were sending a team over, he wanted to ask about Claire, and to get Audrey to keep her far away from the damage, but he knew he couldn’t. Pushing aside any pain he stood up and moved forward with Aaron ready to help as much as he could.

Time seemed to crawl by as they waited for the support team from the hospital. He worked on getting people out before he was called over to check on Marta, examining her, he was worried about what they could do on site.

“Dr. Melendez,” he heard.

He turned and saw Claire rushing towards him. He was relieved to see her, but he also wished that she was safe at the hospital. He wanted to pull her close and never let go.

Seeing the concern in her eyes, he said, “I’m fine. We need to see about Marta.”

She ignored him and reached to check him for a concussion. Her touch was gentle, and he wanted to lean into it.

“Where else are you hurt?” she asked.

“Claire, I’m fine.”

“Dr. Melendez, where else are you injured?”

He knew how stubborn she could be, and he needed her to help him figure out what they needed for Marta. He sighed as he lifted his shirt to show her his side.

“Neil,” she said softly as she felt around the area. He flinched when she pushed against it. “How bad does it hurt?”

“It doesn’t hurt any worse than it should.”

“You need to get checked out.”

“I will, after we help Marta.”

“I don’t think you should wait,” she argued. “What if you have internal damage?”

“I’m fine,” he said. “I need to do my job.”

“Wait right here for a minute.”

“We don’t have a minute,” he said as she walked away. He wondered if she had a plan already for Marta, which didn’t make sense because she hadn’t even evaluated her yet. He knew she was worried about him, but he was fine.

He turned around when he heard her voice. She was sharing what happened with Audrey. He tried to push down his annoyance that she went to someone else after he had told her he was fine.

“Let me see,” Audrey said as they joined him.

“As I told Dr. Browne, I’m fine.”

“Neil, we don’t have time for this. Let me see.”

Rolling his eyes, he lifted his shirt again. He was prepared this time when she went to examine the bruise. He tried not to flinch, but he could see by the look in Claire’s eyes he had failed to mask the pain.

Audrey turned to Claire, “I agree with your assessment. I want you two to go back to the hospital and get a CT scan.”

“Do I get a say in this?” he asked looking between the two of them. “I told you I’m fine.”

“And there’s a good chance you are, but we’re not going to risk that. Go with Claire, let her run the tests, if it turns out everything is fine, then I’ll owe you a drink.” She looked back at Claire. “Let me know how it goes. I’ll check on Marta.”

“Thank you,” Claire said softly. She turned to him. “Let’s go.”

“I can’t believe you went to Audrey,” he said, as they walked towards the ambulances. “You don’t trust me.”

“I trust that you think you’re fine.”

“So now in the middle of an emergency they are losing two doctors who could be helping all those people in there,” he said gesturing towards the brewery. She was silent as they climbed onto the ambulance, pushing against his chest to get him to sit on the gurney. Rolling his eyes, he sat down. “And now we’re taking resources away from someone else who needs them.”

She slipped the oximeter on his finger and reached for blood pressure cuff. “I don’t care if you’re mad at me,” she said softly as she continued to work as they began the drive to the hospital.

He looked up and saw the fear in her eyes she was trying to hide. He hated that she was hurting.

“Hey, I’m not mad,” he said, reaching to take her hand. “And you’re going to see that I’m right.”

“I want you to be right. I don’t want something to be wrong with you, but Neil, we can’t take a chance that there is something more than just a bruise.” She squeezed his hand. “If it was me, what would you have done?”

He knew she had him there. He would have done everything in his power to get ever test imaginable to make sure she was okay. He would have dragged her back to the hospital without even asking how she was feeling.

“I’m sorry.” He brought her hand up to kiss her. “You’re right. If it was you, I’d do the same thing.”

“Glad you can admit that,” she said, smiling. “Now stop complaining.”

“Do I at least get to tell you, ‘I told you so’ when all the tests show I’m fine.”

“I look forward to it. I’ll even watch some stupid sports game with you.”

“And stay awake?” he teased.

“That I can’t promise.”

As they pulled up at the hospital, he was annoyed again when they forced him into a wheelchair to go to radiology. He tried to hide it, but he knew Claire was aware of his frustrations. He had witnessed her talents many times working beside her, but it was different having that attention focused on him. She quickly got him settled for the scan, thankful that they had gotten to the hospital quickly before they were overrun with others injured in the earthquake. The two of them talked while she ran the scans. It felt strange not being beside her as he usually did. After a few minutes, she fell quiet.

“Claire,” he said. “What’s wrong?”

She didn’t answer right away, and he looked up when she entered the room, her tablet in her hand. He knew immediately something was wrong when he saw the look in her eyes.

“What is it?” he asked, holding his hand out for the tablet.

He looked through the scans, disbelief at what he was seeing. Claire had been right to insist on these tests. He was bleeding internally, and if he had waited and continued to work onsite, the damage would have been much worse.

“Claire,” he said softly, reaching for her.

“Don’t,” she said, stepping back, her eyes shining with tears. “I already paged Dr. Andrews. He should be here in a minute.”

He glanced again at the scans before looking back at her. There was so much he wanted to tell her in that moment, and there was a part of him that was afraid that he wouldn’t get the chance. They had been together a month and were just making plans on sharing their relationship with everyone. He had so many dreams for their future together.

“You found it early,” he said softly, “With surgery everything will be fine.” He wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince himself or her.

He looked up as Marcus walked in. Claire took the tablet from him and shared the results with Marcus. They were talking softly, and he couldn’t hear what they were saying. He was disappointed when Claire left. He wanted a chance to talk to her one more time before the surgery.

“Do you want to go over the plan or are you ready now?” Marcus asked. “You’re lucky you came in when you did.”

“Will Dr. Browne be assisting you?” he asked.

“No, she’s needed in the ER. It’s going to be a long night.”

He nodded, trying to mask his disappointment and fear. “Let’s get this over with them.”

Everything moved quickly as he was set up for surgery. He hated that Claire wasn’t there by his side. He wanted to see her face one more time. As they started the anesthesia, he thought of her and what he wanted for their future together. As his eyes drifted closed, he hoped she would forgive him for fighting her about getting checked out. He looked forward to her teasing about how she was once again right.

As he slowly, opened his eyes, he was aware of a different pain in his abdomen.

“About time you’re awake.”

He cringed as he turned to look at Audrey. “How’d it go?” She reached out and smacked his arm. “Ouch, what was that for?”

“You’re an idiot,” she said. “Marcus was able to repair the damage, but if you had waited…” she drifted off, unable to say the words.

“It’s a good thing you forced me to come in.”

“You need to be thanking Claire.” She shook her head. “I know I give you a hard time about your friendship with her, but that saved your life today. She was adamant that you needed to be checked out, and she was right. If she hadn’t been so convincing, this conversation would be much different.”

He closed his eyes. “Is she okay?”

“Are any of us? It’s been a rough night.” She looked at him closely. “It is just friendship with Claire, right?”

“You want to have that conversation now? I just had surgery.”

“Life saving surgery that you didn’t think you needed.”

“I felt fine,” he argued.

“And you would have kept feeling fine, until you didn’t. You’re incredibly lucky.” She leaned back in the chair. “Now be honest with me. If I hadn’t sent Claire to come with you, would you have done the scans?”

“Probably not,” he admitted. If he had been sent on his own, he would have continued working in the ER doing what he could to help everyone else.

“You say you don’t have a problem, but you always listen to her. What’s going on?”

While he didn’t want to have this conversation without talking to Claire first, he also didn’t want to lie anymore. Audrey was right that his relationship with Claire had saved him.

“She’s a talented doctor,” he said, before adding, “We’ve been seeing each other. It’s only been a few weeks and we were going to go to Aaron on Monday. We just wanted to explore things without the hospital involved.”

“I knew it,” she shook her head. “I told you weeks ago that you had problem. We’ve been friends a long time, Neil. I know you. Even if this just officially started a few weeks ago, you’ve cared about her for a long time.”

“I have.”

“You’re going to have to take some time off to heal, so we’ll save that discussion until then. Just remember that you still need to be careful even though you’re a patient.”

“Of course.” He sighed. “How is she?”

“You always talk about her brilliance as why you favor her,” she held up her hand to stop him from arguing, “While I agree that she’s talented, I always thought it was just because of your feelings for her, but tonight I really saw it. Despite her worry for you, she was able to perform a solo surgery for an ectopic pregnancy, which saved Morgan from permanently damaging her hands, and Marcus pretty much had her in charge of the ER. She handled it well.”

He wasn’t surprised by any of it. “But is she all right?”

“It’s been a long night. I’ll send her up when I see her. Maybe you’ll be able to convince her to get some rest.” She stood and squeezed his hand. “I’m really glad you’re okay. You owe me a couple drinks when you’re up to it, and you can fill me in on everything.”

“Looking forward to it.”

He watched her as she left. The exhaustion from the day weighting on him, he closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep. Sometime later, he felt someone gently rubbing his hand. Opening his eyes, he saw that Claire was sitting beside him. He wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep. She was looking down and hadn’t realized that he was awake yet. He took the opportunity to look at her. He could see her exhaustion clearly and wished that he could get her to lay beside him and he could wrap her in his arms.

He squeezed her hand drawing her eyes to his. He felt his heart break at the tears he saw in her eyes. He hated that she was hurting because of him, and there was nothing he could do.

“How long have you been here?” he asked.

“Not long. I didn’t want to wake you.”

He intertwined their fingers. “I wouldn’t have minded.”

“Neil,” she started, her lip quivering as she held back her tears.

“I’m fine.”

“You said that at the brewery, and you weren’t.”

“Which my brilliant girlfriend noticed,” he said, fighting a grin as she cringed at the word girlfriend. “I know you’ve looked at my file, I really am fine.”

“I could’ve lost you tonight.”

He moved to sit up so he could reach out for her. He grimaced as the stitches pulled when he moved. She immediately moved to push him back against the bed.

“What are you doing? You’re going to hurt yourself.”

“You can’t expect me to sit here and not try to comfort you," he said, knowing it would help them both.

“I’m fine,” she said. “I’m not the one who could’ve died.”

“Will you at least come closer so I can hug you?”

She glanced towards the door. “Is that a good idea?”

“I don’t care. Right now, I just,” his voice broke, “Claire, I just need you.”

She moved to hug him, and he wrapped his arms around her holding her to him. He didn’t want to tell her, but he had been afraid that he would never get the chance to have her in his arms again. Too quickly, she moved away from him and sat back down.

“Thank you,” he said softly. “I was too stubborn to realize that I could be hurt more than I realized. Thank you for pushing for me to get the tests.”

She took his hand again. “Thank you for letting me do them, even if you gave me a hard time.”

“You know, I’m still waiting for that ‘I told you so,’” he teased, hoping to get a smile.

She ignored him as her eyes filled with tears again. “While you were in surgery, only one thing kept going through my mind.”

“What?” he asked, wondering if she had been upset that she wasn’t part of the surgical team working on him, or upset that they hadn’t gotten a chance to talk before the surgery.

“That there’s something I haven’t told you.” She took a shaky breath, “I love you.”

He smiled at her. “I love you too.” There was so much more that he wanted to say to her, but at the moment their love for each other was all that mattered. “Come here.”

She moved to rest her head against his chest, smiling up at him as he reached out and caressed her face. He was so glad that he would get to have the future that he wanted with the woman he loved.


	6. Chapter 6

Three days after the earthquake, Neil was released from the hospital. Claire was relieved but also a part of her wanted him to stay longer just to make sure that he was really okay. He had spiked a fever the day after his surgery, which had kept him there longer, but everything was fine now. Since that night, Claire felt as if she was in a fog. Almost losing him had shaken her more than she liked to admit. Even if he would deny it, she knew that she wouldn’t survive losing him.

She was exhausted, unable to sleep without having nightmares about the earthquake, about losing him, and about all the other loss and destruction that she had seen. He was worried about her. He hadn’t said anything, but she could see it in his eyes. She was certain that he had said something to Dr. Lim, which was why she had the next two days off after he was released.

The others now knew about their relationship. With all the chaos of the earthquake, and Neil’s injury, she hadn’t gotten the chance to really talk to them. She hoped there wouldn’t be more drama to deal with once she returned to work. Neil had a few weeks off to recover and they wouldn’t need to go to HR until he returned.

After coming home to his house, he had wanted them both to take a nap. She knew it bothered him to admit it, but just the walk from the car had tired him out. She doubted that she would be able to fall asleep, but since he wanted her with him, she couldn’t refuse. She found herself now watching him sleep and keeping an eye on the steady rise and fall of his chest. She worried that if she closed her eyes something would happen to him.

Sighing, she decided to get up. He needed his rest and she didn’t want to accidently wake him up. She careful climbed out of the bed and headed to his kitchen to make some coffee. As she waited for it to brew, she leaned against the counter and gave into the swirl of emotions. She tried to stay quiet as she cried.

He had enough to worry about and she didn’t want to burden him with her fears and stress after the earthquake. He had been through enough. She couldn’t push past the fear of losing him. While she had known it for a while, his injury showed her how much she loved and needed him.

She startled when his arms came around her waist and he pulled her towards him. She tried to stop the tears but knew he had already heard her. She leaned back against him carefully, mindful of his incision. She placed her hands on his arms and focused on the feelings she got by being in his embrace. They swayed together as she got herself under control.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” she said softly.

“You didn’t. My parents called, and I noticed you weren’t next to me.” He kissed the top of her head. “What’s wrong?”

She ignored the question. “Are they okay?”

“Claire,” he sighed. She pulled out of his arms to fix her coffee. “They’re fine. They are on their way over to drop off some food. Apparently, since I told them not to come to the hospital, my mother felt the need to feed us.”

She looked over at him alarmed, “Do you want me to go?”

He frowned. “Why would I want that?”

“Your parents are coming over.”

“They know you’re here. She wants to make sure you’re eating too. She asked me about your favorites and if you had any allergies.”

“They know about us?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t they?” He reached out for her. “Are you nervous about meeting them?”

“Yes,” she admitted. “I’ve never really done the meet the parents thing before.”

“If you’re not comfortable with it, we can do it another time. I didn’t mean to spring it on you.”

She shook her head, thinking it was better to get it over with. “It’s fine.”

He stepped closer to her and caressed her face, his eyes filled with concern. “What’s wrong?”

She wanted to deny that anything was wrong, but she was never able to lie to him.

“It’s been a long couple of days,” she said softly. “I can’t sleep.”

He tugged on her hand. “It will be a little while before they get here, come talk to me.” He led her into the living room where they sat side by side on the sofa. She watched him closely to see if he was in any pain. “Stop worrying. I’m fine.”

“You almost weren’t.” She looked away from him for a moment to gather her thoughts. “Every time I close my eyes, I see you at that brewery. What if we had waited to run those tests?”

“That doesn’t matter,” he answered. “Because of you everything is fine.” She reached out and gently rested her hand against his stomach. She could feel the gauze under his shirt. He placed his hand on top of hers. “Please, talk to me.”

“I was so scared that night,” she said, as he took her hand. “When Dr. Andrews told me to go to the ER, and that he would take care of you, I wanted so badly to tell him no. I was so afraid that I wouldn’t get to tell you how much I love you.” She focused on the feel of his thumb running back and forth on her hand. “And then I got to the ER and some of the nurses started looking to me for next steps, and we’ve had the drills for events like that, but nothing prepares you for it.” She wiped away her tears. “There were just so many people, so many different injures, and I had no idea what was going on with your surgery. I was terrified I was going to lose you.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish I could’ve been there beside you.”

“Me too.”

“I was scared too,” he admitted. “I wanted to ask Marcus to send you back in. I didn’t like that we didn’t get to talk after he came in and I wanted you beside me. But the one thing I realized, was how much I want our future together. I know we’ve worried about what will happen at work, but I don’t think that’s important anymore. You are all that matters to me.”

“I love you,” she said.

“I love you too.” He hesitated before asking, “Have you spoken with Dr. Malkin?”

“No, but I think I need to.” She looked up at him quickly, “Not that talking to you doesn’t help.”

“You’ve been though a lot these past few days. I want you to get whatever you need.”

“I just need you.”

He looked at her in shock, his amusement clear, “That’s awfully romantic of you, Claire Browne. Are you feeling okay?”

She rolled her eyes at his teasing. “Keep that up and I won’t tell you anything.” She moved towards him and rested her head against his shoulder. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For not giving up on me.”

“Never. I happen to need you too.”

She felt her eyes start to drift shut as she snuggled against him. She jumped when she heard knock at the door.

He sighed. “They must have already been on the road when they called.” They both stood and moved towards to the door. He kissed her softly. “There is nothing for you to worry about they are going to love you.”

She wished that she had his faith. She tried to fix her clothes as he opened the door, and wiped at her face, hoping they wouldn’t see the remnants of her tears. She stood off to the side watching as they fussed over him. She was only able to understand a few words of his mother’s rapid-fire Spanish. She finally moved forward when Neil went to take the large bag of food from his mother.

Stepping in front of him, she grabbed the bag first. “You’re not supposed to carry anything.”

“It’s not that heavy,” he argued.

She glared at him. “Doctors orders.”

He held up his hands in surrender. “Fine, you can get it.”

She felt his mother’s eyes on her and turned to look at her. She worried that she would be upset that she had stepped in, but instead saw his mother was smiling. Claire wished her Spanish was better, so she knew what she said to Neil, especially when she saw his smile.

“It is so nice to finally meet you,” his mother said. Turning to Neil, she added, “Claire and I will put this away, you and your father go sit down.” 

With a glance at Neil she followed her to the kitchen and set the bag on the table.

“We can put some in the freezer so you two will have plenty of food,” she began as she started pulling containers out of the bag. “Neil said you would enjoy whatever we made, so I hope he was right.”

“Everything looks great,” she said.

His mother turned to her and reached for her hand. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

She stood examining her, and Claire felt uncomfortable under her gaze as if she could see what she was feeling. His mother reached up and wiped at the tears tracks on her face.

“He’s okay now, right?”

She nodded. “He’s fine. He just needs to take it easy.”

“I know you will make sure he does that.” She kept her eyes on hers. “Are you nervous?” she asked.

“Yes,” she said softly. “I know how important Neil’s family is to him.”

She squeezed her hand. “You are important to him too. We were so happy when he told us you two had finally decided to be together.” She let go of her hand and started sorting the containers.

“Really?”

“Don’t sound so surprised, dear. He would talk about some of his coworkers, but there was always something there when he talked about you. Even in the beginning, I could tell he thought you were special.” She started handing Claire, some containers, “Put these in the freezer.” Claire followed her directions as she continued to talk. “At first it was just Dr. Browne did this, Dr. Browne said that, but eventually it became Claire said to do this and Claire is brilliant. I told him and his father that he was falling for you. Neil of course denied it, but eventually he stopped fighting me about it.” She placed the rest of the containers in the refrigerator.

There were so many questions that she wanted to ask her, but she decided not to. She was surprised that he had spoken about her to his parents for so long.

“Thank you for all this food,” Claire said. “It must have taken forever. Everything smells so good.”

“You’re welcome. I thought you two might be too tired to cook.”

She made a face. “You can ask Neil, I’m not much of a cook.”

His mother turned to her and smiled, “Would you like to learn?”

“I’m not sure if I’m a worthy student.”

“If you can learn to be a surgeon, you can learn anything. I would be happy to teach you.”

“I’d like that,” she said honestly. “As long as you don’t mind.”

“It would be my pleasure. And it would give us a chance to get to know each other better.” She reached for her hands again. “How’s your Spanish?”

“Very basic. I can ask a patient how they’re feeling and where it hurts, but that’s about it.”

“Then I’ll teach you that too. That way your children will learn from both of you.”

The mention of children startled her. When she thought about her future with Neil, she did picture a family, but it wasn’t something they had gotten around to talking about yet.

“That sounds nice,” she said.

“Claire, you’re part of our family now too.”

Her eyes filled with tears at her words, and his mother stepped forward and pulled her in for a hug.

“Let’s go check on them and make sure they haven’t gotten into any trouble.”

Claire followed her his mother out to the living room, stunned by the conversation in the kitchen and how easily his mother had accepted her. She sat down next to him and saw the concern in his eyes. She smiled and moved to take his hand. 

“Everything okay?” he asked softly.

She nodded. For the first time since the earthquake she felt like it would be. She settled against him for a visit with his parents.


	7. Chapter 7

As Neil drove them home from his parents’ house, he thought about the ease with which they all got along. His mother had invited them over, wanting to start teaching Claire how to cook. He had teased Claire that he had taught her to be a surgeon, she could trust him to teacher to cook. She had explained that it seemed important to his mother, so she wanted to do it with her. He still had a few more days before he was returning to work at the hospital, and since she also had the day off, they joined his parents.

It had been two weeks since the earthquake, and while Claire seemed to be better than when he had first gotten home, he still worried about her. He knew she continued to have nightmares that she wouldn’t share with him. Some nights he would be able to hold her as she fell back asleep, other nights he would wake up alone. He would find her curled up on the sofa. She had been talking to her therapist, and he knew it would take time for things to get back to normal. He felt that once he returned to work things would be better. Of course, returning to work also meant going to HR. He had no doubts about his relationship with Claire but wasn’t looking forward to putting her through that.

He glanced over at her. She had fallen asleep soon after he had pulled out of his parents’ driveway. Another sign that she hadn’t been sleeping well. It would take them some time to get back home, so he was glad that she would have time to rest, and he could think about how things went. He was glad that his parents got along so well with Claire, but the conversations he had with both his mother and father had surprised him.

_As soon as they entered his parents’ house, his mother had taken Claire hand and pulled her into the kitchen, barely even asking him how he was doing. Shaking his head, he followed his father into the living room where a soccer game was on._

_“Mom’s happy,” he said as they settled in to watch the game._

_“She has someone else to teach to cook. Gabi never liked being in the kitchen with her.”_

_Neil shook his head. “She’d much rather be out here watching the game with you.”_

_He thought about his sister and wished that she could be there with them too. His parents still had a complicated relationship with Gabi and felt guilty that they had not been able to provide for her as they felt they should have. While they visited with her a few times a month, he tended to be the one who spent more time with her. It was the one thing they always disagreed on. He had learned not to push it, even if it bothered him._

_“It was nice of Mom to offer to teach Claire.”_

_His dad turned to him with a frown, “She’s asked all of your girlfriends,” he said._

_“I never knew that.”_

_“She didn’t want you to know,” he continued. “She thought you would force them to come and wanted them to be here because they wanted to be. Claire was the first one to say yes. She has been so excited since. She was trying to think about what they could make together.”_

_He heard laughter coming from the kitchen and couldn’t help but smile. “Sounds like it’s going well.” He glanced towards the kitchen. “Did Mom say what she was making?”_

_“No, she wants it to be a surprise.” His father turned down the TV and turned towards him. “I know that things can be complicated since the two of you work together, but don’t let it be. What you two have is special, even I can see that.”_

_“Thanks dad.”_

_His father turned back to the game, and Neil knew that was the extent of the conversation he would have with him. He turned to focus on the game, but instead he thought about how his parents had interacted with previous girlfriends that he had brought home. He thought now of his mother reaching out to them, only to have them not want to learn from her. And she had never said a word to him. He realized how much that must have hurt her, especially when cooking was how she liked to show people she cared. He heard the laughter again and was tempted to join them in the kitchen but decided instead to continue watching the game._

_Sometime later, the two of them came to join them as they waited for the food to cook. He held back a laugh as he noticed the crumbs on Claire’s clothes and the way some of her hair had slipped from her bun._

_“Neil,” his mother said, as Claire sat beside him. “Can you help me with something?”_

_He glanced between Claire and the soccer game. He knew she hated sports, and only dealt with it because of him._

_“Go,” his father said, “Claire and I will be fine.”_

_He looked to Claire to make sure she was okay with it. She smiled at him, “As long as your dad doesn’t mind me asking questions, we’re good.”_

_His father lit up at being able to share about the game, since he had already passed all his knowledge onto him and Gabi. He wondered if Claire knew what she was getting herself into. Seeing how easily she turned to his father to ask a question about what was happening, when he knew she didn’t enjoy it, made him fall even more in love with her. Smiling softly as he looked at her, he turned to follow his mother into her bedroom._

_“Everything okay?” he asked._

_“You need to take care of that girl, Neil.” She turned to him, and he noticed the sadness in his mother’s eyes. “I’m sure there is so much more than what she told me, but her mother,” she shook her head, “No child should ever have to go through that.”_

_“What did she tell you?”_

_“Just that her mother wasn’t around much as a child, and that’s why she doesn’t cook, she relied on things that were convenient or food from neighbors.” She reached for his hand. “It’s much worse than that, isn’t it?”_

_“That’s not my story to tell you.”_

_He was honestly surprised Claire had told his mother anything, but his mother had a way of getting people to talk. It’s why he was never able to hide anything from her._

_“Poor child.” She turned away from him and started looking through her jewelry box._

_“I thought you needed my help.”_

_She held out a small box to him, “This was your Abuela’s.”_

_He took the box and opened it up, “Her engagement ring?”_

_She nodded. “She would want you to give it to Claire.”_

_“Thank you,” he said surprised, “But we’re not ready for that yet. We haven’t been together that long. We haven’t talked about that.”_

_He examined the ring and knew immediately that it was the right one. She would never want him to give her something flashy. The delicate band and diamonds would be perfect for her._

_She took both his hands in hers, “You may not have talked about it yet, but I can see it in your faces and your actions.” She squeezed his hands. “She just spent her day off letting me teach her to cook. She was even taking notes,” she smiled. “And she’s letting me teach her Spanish too.”_

_“Why?” he asked._

_“For when you have kids.”_

_“She didn’t tell me that,” he said softly._

_“The two of you are special, Neil. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been together, for it to be right for both of you. You’ll have a lifetime together.”_

_He glanced down again at the ring and could picture giving it to Claire. He knew it wasn’t time just yet. They still needed to deal with HR at work, and any gossip or issues that came up. He knew it would be worth it. She was worth everything._

He was pulled from his thoughts as she stirred next to him. He glanced at her again as she slowly opened her eyes.

“How are you not miserable?” she asked softly. “I don’t think I can ever eat again.”

He laughed. “You’ll learn.”

“What’s your secret?”

“Never let Mom fix your plate.”

She groaned. “Now you tell me.”

“And always plan to spend the next few days at the gym.”

She made a face. “That won’t work. You haven’t been cleared yet.”

He glanced over at her quickly, “Luckily I happen to know a brilliant doctor.”

“No,” she said, “I’m not taking any chances with you. You’re keeping your doctor’s appointment.”

It was a fight he knew he wouldn’t win and wouldn’t push her too hard on either. As much as he wanted things to get back to normal, he also wanted to respect her fears. She yawned.

“We still have a little while to go, why don’t you go back to sleep.”

“No, I’m fine. I want to be able to sleep tonight.” She sat up in the seat trying to stretch. “Today was really nice.”

“I’m glad you had fun.”

“Your parents are really sweet. I’m glad we got to spend time with them.”

“I’m pretty sure they like you more than me.”

“I doubt that.” She took a deep breath. “I’m really glad our children are going to get to be a part of a family like this.”

He was taken aback with the ease with which she talked about their future family. Although maybe he shouldn’t be surprised since she had talked about it with his mother. He had pictured it, had wanted it for longer than he wanted to admit, but for her to come out and say it made it even more real.

She placed her hand against his leg, “I’m not ready for that yet,” she admitted. “But one day.”

He took her hand in is. “I’d like that.” He glanced over at her, “How many?”

She was quiet for a moment and he wondered if she had fallen back asleep. 

“Two, I think. Any more and we’d be outnumbered, and I’m already going to have to be the bad guy.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know you’re going to spoil our kids and I’m going to have to be the one to tell them no.” 

“You’ve thought about this before?”

“Maybe.” He could hear the smile in her voice. “And I don’t hear you disagreeing with me.”

He thought about their future children and knew she was probably right. 

“You’ll have my full support being the bad guy,” he said. “I’ll just tell them to ask you if I want the answer to be no.”

“Thanks,” she said laughing.

He thought about the ring in his pocket. They weren’t there yet, but he felt content knowing that they were on the same page about their future. He kept her hand in his the rest of the drive home.


	8. Chapter 8

Neil had been back at work for a few weeks, and Claire had thought that it would be difficult with everyone knowing about their relationship. Shaun, Alex and Morgan were all surprisingly supportive, although she thought Shaun was just happy he knew it first. Dr. Andrews, Dr. Lim and Dr. Glassman all worked together to make sure there was limited impact on her residency. While they tried to have her working more with them, she wasn’t forbidden from working with Neil. It felt strange having everyone know about her personal life, but it was also a relief not to have to hide it.

It had taken her some time to move past the trauma of the what happened during the earthquake and the fear of losing Neil. Surprisingly, she was able to get comfort and support from his family. They had started going to visit with his parents when they had a day off together. His mother was still trying to teach her to cook, and Claire had a notebook she was filling with recipes and notes. While she appreciated her willingness to teach her to cook, she enjoyed the opportunity to talk with his mother. As she taught Claire some of her favorite recipes, she would tell her stories about when she made them before and told her about her family history. His father seemed determined to teach her about sports, which wasn’t her favorite, but she could tell he enjoyed it, so she tried to get into it.

Neil also took her with him when he would visit with Gabi. She had not been as welcoming as his parents and wasn’t happy that Neil had someone else in his life. Claire had felt bad at first and told him that she would stay home, but he insisted that Gabi just needed time to get used to her. He also admitted that he hadn’t taken many other people with him to visit her. It had taken a few visits for Gabi to warm up to her, once she realized that she wasn’t taking him away from her. Now, Neil teased her that Gabi was disappointed if she didn’t come with him. 

Overall, things had settled at work much easier than she had ever expected. She still felt that the visit to HR was invasive and insulting. As she told Neil, she wasn’t sure if they were trying to say he was taking advantage of her, or she had seduced him to get ahead. He had laughed and told her that neither were true. They had fallen in love, and the fact that he was her boss shouldn’t matter. She wondered sometimes if the reaction at the hospital would have been different if he hadn’t been injured in the earthquake. She felt it also helped that they maintained a strict professional relationship at work. Morgan liked to tease her that no one bothered her or Neil about their relationship, because most people didn’t even realize they were in one.

As she neared the end of her shift, she was exhausted and ready to go home. She had spent the day working with Dr. Lim, and they had several patients to deal with who had been injured in a multi-vehicle car crash. She was looking forward to going home, and hopefully curling up beside Neil. She headed towards his office to see if he would be ready to leave soon and what he wanted to do for dinner.

Rounding the corner, she almost bumped into Morgan.

“Are you and Melendez in a fight?” Morgan asked.

“No,” she answered quickly. “Why?”

“Then you need to find an on-call room to take him to or something. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him so cranky.” She sighed. “I’m off so he’ll be your problem now.”

“Have a goodnight,” she said, surprised by Morgan’s comment.

She stood in the doorway to his office and could immediately tell what Morgan meant. She could see his frustration clearly. She knocked on the door causing him to look up. With a small smile, he waved her in.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

He shook his head, “Just been one of those never-ending days.” He gestured to a pile of files on his desk. “With all the meetings I had to go to the last two days, I haven’t gotten to all this paperwork, and then this case,” he shook his head. “Every surgical plan we have come up with creates a new problem.”

“What can I do to help?”

“Nothing,” he said. “You’ve had a long day, you should go home.”

“Not as much fun when you’re still here.” She walked around his desk, so she was standing next to him. “Morgan suggested I take you to one of the on-call rooms.”

He looked at her, grinning. “Is that a possibility?”

She nudged his shoulder. “Absolutely not.”

He reached out for her hand. “It would make me feel better.”

“And would do nothing to fix all the work you just said you had to do.”

“I wouldn’t mind the distraction.”

She had to look away from him, because it was tempting to give into what he wanted, especially when he had that look in his eye. However, she knew she had to stay strong in her position of no PDA at the hospital, if she gave in, he would be insatiable.

“How about I take care of these files, while you keep brainstorming for your patient.”

“I can’t ask you to do that.”

Rolling her eyes, “You’re not asking.” She pushed against his shoulder to get him to stand up. “I am stealing your desk though.”

“Thank you,” he said, getting up to move to the other side of his desk. Sinking into the chair, he said, “I think I’ve spent more times in meetings than anything else. I couldn’t even tell you what we were meeting about.”

She started typing up his notes, frowning a little at his handwriting. “You might want to start paying attention, it might be important.”

“They forget in medical school to tell you that the longer you’re a doctor more time will be spent with paperwork and meetings.”

“Still worth it though.”

“Of course,” he said. “It’s just been a long day.”

She felt his eyes on her as she typed. “What?” she asked.

“I wish you hadn’t told me what Morgan said. Now all I can think about is what you're wearing underneath your clothes.”

“Figure out your surgical plan and you’ll find out.”

“Now?”

She rolled her eyes, “No. When we get home.”

“Mine or yours tonight?”

“Yours,” she said. “Although I do need to stop by my place to pick up some things.”

“About that,” he started.

“What?”

“This is just a thought, but I was wanted to ask you something.”

“Okay,” she stopped typing to look at him. He seemed uncharacteristically nervous.

“What are your thoughts on us moving in together?”

She frowned. “How would that work?” she asked.

He seemed confused by her question. “We move some things around at my place, you bring your stuff over, and it becomes our house. Or if you prefer, we could look for a new place together.”

“That’s not what I meant,” she said shaking her head. “Would I pay you rent?”

He made a face, “No, why would you?”

She leaned back in his chair. “You’re not paying for everything if we live together.”

“I don’t care about that,” he must have seen something in her expression, because he added, “But you do.”

She took a moment to think of the best way to explain what she was thinking to him. She had no doubt that he would be perfectly happy if she moved in and he continued paying. While she had gotten better with relying on him and leaning on him, she didn’t want him to think that she expected him to take care of her.

“I do like the idea of us living together,” she started, “But this is a partnership, Neil. I don’t expect you to pay for everything.”

“Okay,” he agreed. “If this is important to you, then we’ll figure it out.”

“Thank you.” She finished up the last of his files. “I’m finished.”

“Already?” he asked.

“One of the many jobs I had in college was transcribing.”

“Always learning something new about you,” he said, smiling.

“Have you figured out a surgical plan yet?”

He shook his head as he stood up. He came to stand beside her, handing her the scans he’d been looking at. “I’m thinking of stopping for the night and starting fresh in the morning.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. “I don’t mind if you want to look over it together.”

“There are other things I’d rather do with you,” he said brushing his fingers lightly across her neck.

She looked up at him. Before she could say anything, he leaned down and kissed her.

“Neil!” she said, laughing as she pushed him away. “We’re still at work.”

“Sorry,” he said, laughing with her. “Actually, I’m not.”

She rolled her eyes, as she stood up, “For that I should spend the night at my place.”

“That would punish both of us.”

She knew he was right. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“I know,” he said softly.

“I’d offer to get up early with you tomorrow to look at the scans but we both know that won’t happen.”

“Maybe over breakfast?”

“Okay,” she said. “I won’t be too long at my apartment. Do you want me to pick up something to eat on my way over?”

“Sure,” he took a step closer to her. “Do you want to find that on-call room first?”

She nudged him with her elbow, “No,” she said laughing. 

“It was worth a shot.”

They straightened up his office and then walked out together. She knew she would be quick at her place and looked forward to joining him at his. She was excited about them moving in together once they worked out all the details.


	9. Chapter 9

As Neil left the hospital, he checked the time. As a surgeon, he was used to being called in on his days off. It never used to bother him as much, but since it was a day that Claire had off as well, he was frustrated. They didn’t have any concrete plans for the day other than just lounging around together. She had officially moved into his house, and he was looking forward to a day with her that didn’t involve moving or unpacking. 

He had brought it up to her one night at work about a month ago, and after many conversations, they had come up with a compromise. He had wanted to respect her wishes about sharing the expenses, but he also didn’t think it was fair to her when he made a lot more than she did. It took some time, but they were able to figure out a breakdown that made them both happy. It had taken a while to get her moved in between their shifts at the hospital. Combining their things together, had been harder than he expected, which he took the blame for. Claire had been hesitant to put out the pictures and knickknacks that she had displayed in her apartment. When he had found her boxes in the guest room, he had asked her why she hadn’t unpacked them. She knew he preferred things to be orderly and hadn’t wanted to create too much clutter. Kissing her, he had told her that he wanted her stuff everywhere, because it was now their house.

He looked forward to coming home and knowing that she would be there. Sometimes he wondered how he had pretended for so long not to love her. The best thing he ever did was to give into his feelings for her. Work continued to go well. He worked with her less, but he didn’t mind as much as he thought he would, because at the end of the day he got to fall asleep with her in his arms.

He couldn’t help the smile as he parked. He wondered what she had ended up doing with her free time since he had gotten called in. He wouldn’t mind a chance to lounge on the sofa with her as they watched something on tv.

Walking in, he left his things by the door. He was surprised to hear music coming from the kitchen and followed the sounds. As he got closer, he was surprised to see she had made dinner. He stood in the doorway, watching her. He glanced around looking at the mess she had made before looking back at her. He knew she had been working with his mother with learning different recipes, but she had never tried any by herself yet. Usually either he cooked, or it was something they did together.

She turned and jumped when she saw him standing there. “How long have you been there?”

He shrugged. “Not long. Just enjoying the view.”

She rolled her eyes, “I was hoping to be cleaned up before you got home.”

He looked again at the ingredients on the counter, “You made tamales?” he asked.

“Attempted. They don’t look as good as your moms.”

He noticed her cell phone sitting next to the notebook she had been using to take notes while working with his mother.

“How many times did you call her?” he asked moving towards her.

“None.”

“Really?” he asked in disbelief.

“Twice,” she admitted. “And I texted her pictures.”

He laughed as he wrapped his arms around her waist. “You could’ve waited for me.”

“You had to work,” she said, her hands coming to rest on his as she leaned back against him. “I wanted to do something for you.”

He brushed a kiss against her neck, “You keep telling me you don’t like romantics, but having dinner ready for when I get home seems romantic to me.”

She twisted out of his arms, “You need to eat, don’t you?”

Smiling, he pulled her back into his arms. “One day, you’re going to admit that you don’t hate romantics.”

“Well, I do love you.”

“I love you too.” He looked at the mess around the kitchen. “Can I help you clean up?”

“No, I got it.” She kissed him. “Go shower and then we can eat when you get out.”

“Want to join me?”

“Always,” she smiled, “But not this time. I’m not burning dinner after all that work.”

He caressed her face, “I guess I can wait until later.” He noticed her notebook sitting there. “May I?” he asked.

“If you want.”

He grinned as he looked over her notes from cooking with his mom. She had written down the recipes with notes and little drawings. He wondered if his mother realized how closely she had been listening to her as he noticed she had also written down notes from the stories his mother had told her.

“This is impressive,” he said, flipping through the pages. “I feel like I’m looking through one of your surgical plans.”

She shrugged. “You mom told me to write down whatever would help me and thinking about it like a surgery did.”

Placing the book back on the counter, he pulled her back into his arms. “Always brilliant.”

Her arms snaked around his neck, pulling him closer as she kissed him. “Go take a shower,” she said, kissing him again. “I will be mad at you if you distract me and dinner gets messed up.”

Laughing, he kissed her one more time before letting go. “I love you.”

She gave him a bright smile, “I love you too.”

Reluctantly, he left her in the kitchen to take a quick shower. He liked seeing all her things intermingled with his. Once done, he dressed and went to join her back in the kitchen. She had been busy while he was in the shower and had cleaned up the kitchen and the tamales were sitting on a platter.

“Perfect timing,” she said.

“They smell really good.”

“Let’s hope they taste good.”

“They will,” he said. He took one and unwrapped it from the corn husk. Grabbing a fork, he took a bite. He was admittedly a little nervous. Before working with his mother, Claire had been honest about her lack of skills in the kitchen. He tried to hide his surprise that it tasted almost the same as his mothers. “These are really good.”

“Are you just saying that?” she asked, taking the fork from him.

“I wouldn’t lie to you.”

He watched her as she took a bite and realized that they were delicious. He saw the relief and pride in her eyes.

“I told you,” he said.

“I didn’t want to disappoint you.”

He placed his hands against her waist, turning her to face him, “There is nothing you could ever do to disappoint me.” Unable to resist, he added, “Mom on the other hand...”

She laughed rolling her eyes, “I would never try to make these for your mother.”

“But you would for me?”

“You’re more forgiving.” She leaned forward to kiss him. “I just wanted to do something for you.”

“Thank you,” he said. “It’s perfect.”

“You grab the drinks, and then you can tell me all about your emergency surgery that took you away from me today.”

As he got the drinks from the fridge, and went to sit down with Claire for dinner, he was struck with how lucky he was. He thought briefly of the ring sitting in his dresser drawer. He didn’t want to take away from her wanting to do something special for him, but he knew he would ask her soon. 


	10. Chapter 10

In the past few months, Claire and Neil had gotten settled into life together. While there were occasional disagreements, they always made sure to talk it through and work out whatever was bothering them. There were times when she wanted to keep it to herself, but he could always tell when something was bothering her. After a while, she realized she wanted to talk to him about what was wrong and valued his input. She enjoyed working beside him but was even happier when they were home together.

The past week had been insane at the hospital. They were both overworked and stressed. They would see each other in passing at work, and by the time they were home they were too exhausted to do anything but go to sleep curled up next to each other. Morgan had decided that they needed a night out after the week that they had. Claire had tried to get out of it, wanting instead to spend the evening with Neil. Morgan of course, told her that he was invited as well. She always told her that Neil could come, but he usually declined because he didn’t think the residents would want their boss with them. She wasn’t sure what Morgan had said to him, but he had agreed that they would both come to the bar for a drink.

Unfortunately, he had gotten paged for a consult right as they were getting ready to leave. He promised that he would meet her there, and she had left with Morgan. Sitting at the table near the bar, they both were sipping at their drinks.

“Melendez better not be trying to get out of being here tonight,” Morgan said.

“Why is it so important to you that he’s here?”

“You are one of my best friends,” she made a face, “Not sure when that happened.”

Claire laughed, “You’re one of mine too.”

“Anyway, you’re in a serious relationship and I never see you two together.”

“What do you mean? You see us every day at the hospital.”

“But you two are insanely professional. You never act like a couple.”

“What do you want us to make out at the nurse’s station?”

“No, but I want you to feel comfortable being together in front of me away from work.”

“There hasn’t been much opportunity lately for anything away from work.” She took a drink. She hadn’t gotten a chance to talk with Morgan lately about anything but their cases. She watched as she made a face as she picked up her drink. “Are your hands doing okay?”

Morgan flexed and wiggled her fingers. “Good enough to keep operating.” She sighed. “I know not everyone agrees with my decision to get the surgery, but being a surgeon is all I’ve ever wanted.”

“I get it,” she said. “And hopefully there will be more options for you in the future to prolong your career if you want it.”

“Thanks. I hope so.” Morgan looked towards the bar. “Is that bartender checking me out or you?”

“He’s all yours, I’m taken.”

“Good point.” She took a long sip of her drink. “Do you ever regret getting together with Melendez?”

“No,” she answered immediately. “Being with him makes me incredibly happy.” 

“I’m glad,” she said softly. Looking up, she grinned, “He didn’t stand us up after all.”

Claire turned and saw Neil walking towards them. She could clearly see his exhaustion and appreciated that he came anyway. He came next to her, his hand rested against her back as he kissed her gently.

“That’s it?” Morgan asked incredulously.

Claire laughed at the confusion on his face as he looked between the two of them.

“I’m going to get us all a drink,” Morgan continued leaving them alone.

“What was that about?” he asked.

“She was complaining that we don’t act like a couple.”

He grinned at her, his eyes darkening with desire despite his exhaustion. “I can fix that.” He kissed her again deeper this time, his hand sliding under her shirt drawing her to him. He kissed along her jaw, making his way to her ear, whispering, “This wouldn’t be a problem if you’d let me kiss you at work.”

“Never,” she said breathlessly, as she moved to capture his lips with hers.

They startled apart when Morgan dropped their drinks on the table.

“Ugh,” she said, hiding a smile. “I take it back, go back to being professional.”

Claire sighed as she reached for her drink. Neil moved a little bit away from her but kept his hand against her back. 

“So, the bartender?” Claire asked,

“Seems interested.”

Neil frowned. “Did I miss something?”

“Morgan thought the bartender was checking us out.” Claire rolled her eyes, as Neil pulled her closer to him.

The three of them talked some more while enjoying their drinks and watching the people around them. Once their drinks were done, Neil and Claire decided to head home, and Morgan was going to talk with the bartender. After saying goodbye to Morgan, who promised to text when she got home, Claire reached for Neil’s hand as they exited the bar.

The long hours at work were dragging on them both, and she was hopeful that neither one of them would be called in tomorrow on their day off.

“What do you want to do tomorrow?” she asked him as they walked towards his car.

“I don’t care as long as we can spend some time in bed together.”

“Sleeping or…” she trailed off.

“Both,” he said smiling.

He stopped walking and looked across the street. She followed his gaze and noticed the coffee shop across the street.

“Let’s go get some coffee,” he suggested.

“I thought you were tired.”

“I am, but not too tired for coffee.”

“Okay,” she said. Keeping her hand in his, they crossed the street.

“This time I’m buying,” he said, nudging her to go sit down.

As she settled into the seat, she thought about the last time they had been in this coffee shop and how much had changed since then. Neil placed her coffee in front of her and sat down beside her.

“This is where we were sitting when you kissed me for the first time,” she said.

“No, you kissed me first.”

They laughed at their lasting joke about who actually made the first move. She moved to snuggle against him resting her head against his shoulder.

“It feels so long ago,” she said. “I was so nervous that night.”

He brushed a kiss on the top of her head. “So was I. I’m so glad that you never called Dash that day.”

“Best decision I’ve ever made.”

She sat up to take a drink of coffee as he reached into his pocket. He slid a box in front of her.

“What’s this?” she asked, trying to remember if there was a random anniversary that she forgot.

“Open it.”

Curious, she opened it and found a gorgeous diamond ring, realizing what it was her eyes filled with tears.

“Neil,” she said softly, turning to look at him, her heart racing.

He reached out and caressed her face, his hand lingering against her cheek. “I know you’re not a big fan of romantic gestures, but when I realized where Morgan wanted us to meet for drinks, I couldn’t resist.” He reached for her hands. “Claire, that night we sat here was the beginning of our life together. I love you, and I can’t imagine spending my life without you by my side.” He took a deep breath. “You are the most amazing woman I have ever met, and I would be honored for you to be my wife. Will you marry me?”

“Yes,” she answered. Her hand shook as Neil slipped the ring on her finger. “I love you too,” she said. “Being with you makes me happier than I ever imagined I could be.”

He leaned forward to kiss her. “Want to see if we can get kicked out again tonight?”

“Might as well stick with tradition,” she said, laughing as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

As she kissed him, she thought about how far they had come since that first night they got drinks and coffee. She wouldn’t change a second of their life together, and she couldn’t wait to see what the future would bring. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading and for all the amazing feedback!! I greatly appreciate it!! I'm so glad to see so many new stories keeping Claire and Neil's story alive!


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